Rocky's Amnesia
Harry Dorn (I. Stanford Jolley) is after a struggling ranch but discovers that Dan Brady (Ed Cassidy), manager of the local bank, is planning on helping the struggling ranchers. But when one of Dorn's men murders Brady it has a knock on effect as there is a run on the bank. Good guys Rocky Cameron (Robert Livingston) and Fuzzy Q. Jones (Al St. John) happen to be in town and Rocky volunteers to head to another town to collect some money but only ends up ambushed on the way back. When he suffers amnesia from a bang on his head he ends up thrown in jail for stealing money.
"Wolves of the Range" has a familiar sort of set up where we have a nefarious businessman who is willing to order his men to kill to get what he wants. But "Wolves of the Range" has a couple of change ups with one of the consequences of a murder being a run on the bank causing a money shortage. The other, and one which whilst not original is entertaining, is are hero ending up in jail unable to remember what happens. Of course a hero wrongly accused and in jail is pretty normal and so how "Wolves of the Range" plays out is not that surprising.
Aside from those couple of differences "Wolves of the Range" is pretty typical of the era especially with Al St. John cast as Fuzzy Q. Jones serving up the slice of comedy you come to expect from him. As for Robert Livingston he makes for an amiable hero but a pretty forgettable one to be honest.
What this all boils down to is that "Wolves of the Range" ends up a pretty typical 1940s western which thanks to a couple of minor changes is a bit more entertaining than usual.
